Fox News and Dominion Settle defamation Lawsuit for $787.5m

(CTN News) – Fox News has reached a last-minute settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed against it by voting equipment company Dominion related to its coverage of the 2020 US election.

Dominion defamation lawsuit against Fox News ends with $787.5m payout

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his family own and operate the network, which settled on a $787.5m (£634m) settlement with Dominion.

Despite the size of the settlement, Fox will now be spared what was being called “the defamation trial of the century.”

However, the network is also being sued by Smartmatic, an additional election technology company.

Fox News and Dominion may finally put the lawsuit behind them thanks to the deal, which allows both companies to walk away as winners.

Two major corporations in this scenario are naturally risk-averse. Furthermore, “any time you got a jury, it’s risky,” law professor David Logan of Roger Williams University told the BBC.

The nearly $800 million makes it one of the largest cash settlements in a defamation case.

Fox News avoids “defamation trial of the century” with Dominion settlement

We can’t ignore the fact that this is a big amount. Angelo Carusone, president of the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America, told the BBC, “I mean, it is a large number.”

Dominion had asked for $1.6 billion, less than half of what they got.

The payout might be understood in light of the $1.23 billion in net income that Fox Corporation generated for the prior fiscal year, the parent company of Fox.

Recent reports reveal it has substantial cash reserves of around $4 billion.

Forbes estimates that Rupert Murdoch and his family have a net worth of $17.6 billion. The Murdochs own the News Corp media empire, which includes Fox News, The Times of London, and The Wall Street Journal.

Fox officials, including Mr. Murdoch, and some of the network’s anchors are exempt from testifying in one of the most publicized defamation lawsuits in history due to the settlement.

“Fox was going to have to deal with another round of embarrassing revelations,” Prof. Logan added.

The legal team might have also considered how much money would be spent on the case if Dominion had won.

The court’s conclusions that Fox made fraudulent statements regarding Dominion were acknowledged in a written statement released by Fox, but no apology was included.

As the statement said, “We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute amicably with Dominion, rather than the acrimony of a divisive trial,” will allow the country to move on.

The problems with Fox’s coverage of the 2020 presidential race, though, won’t go away anytime soon.

Another voting technology company, Smartmatic, is still suing it for defamation and is asking for $2.7 billion in damages.

The $787.5m Dominion received from Fox may only be the beginning.

Fox’s smaller competitors Newsmax and OAN, as well as numerous former President Donald Trump’s cronies, are still targets of pending litigation.